


a hothouse flower and a better man

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Mountain (TV 2004)
Genre: F/M, Het, Post canon, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 11:02:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18520144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Three years after leaving Boundary, Will returns.





	a hothouse flower and a better man

“Mr Carver?” 

It didn’t sound like the first time that Rachel had said his name and when Will turned away from the window, the slight frown between her eyebrows confirmed his suspicion that it hadn’t been. A glance at the clock on his office wall told him that he’d been staring out the window at the Las Vegas Strip, lost in his thoughts, for longer than he’d realised. “Yes, Rachel?”

“Your three o’clock is here.” She didn’t say the name which was unusual and, Will knew, not an accident. 

“Show her in,” he said, moving to stand behind his desk, resting the tips of his fingers on the cool glass. It grounded him a little, reminded him of who he was, where he was. 

But none of that mattered when the woman - slight in build but strong in memories - walked into the office. 

“Hello, Will,” she said, her voice soft, her eyes instantly filling with tears. Will looked her up and down, taking in instantly the pallor of her cheeks even underneath her makeup, how she seemed even smaller, thinner than she had three years ago. She stepped towards him, arms outstretched but when she saw him standing resolutely behind his desk, not moving, her arms fell to her side. 

“Can I get you anything, Mr Carver?” 

Rachel’s voice seemed to come from very far away and Will dragged his eyes away from the other woman to meet hers. “No, Rachel, that will be all.” 

She nodded, stepped backwards and closed the door behind her, leaving Will face to face with his past. 

“Hi Mom.” 

Gennie Carver’s face relaxed instantly. “Will.” There was even a smile on her face. “You look...” She spread her hands wide, raised them up to chest height, looking as if words failed her momentarily. “You look well.” 

“So do you.” It wasn’t quite the truth - she looked tired, older somehow, a lot more than the almost three years since he’d seen her would indicate. Maybe she knew that too because she huffed out a chuckle. 

“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” she demurred. “But it is good to see you again. I’ve missed you, Will.” 

Will could hear the tears in her voice and he looked down, tapped his fingers off the glass table top again. “You’ve always known where I am,” he reminded her and when he looked at her again, she was looking down. He felt a slight pang of remorse, pushed it aside. She’d made her choice. 

“I have,” she admitted. “And I should have come sooner, I know that.” 

Will frowned, a suspicion he’d held since the initial phone call crystallising and solidifying. “So why now?” He gestured towards the seat opposite his and Gennie didn’t so much as sit down as collapse into it. 

“It’s the mountain,” she began and Will sat down heavily too. 

“Of course it is,” he muttered. Gennie looked stricken, like he’d slapped her. “What’s David done this time?” 

It was a guess but if the way her already pale face grew even paler, a good one. “It’s not David,” she protested and Will felt his stomach twist at the way she instinctively stuck up for his younger brother. “There have been factors outside his control, things he couldn’t foresee...”

“Uh-huh.” Will wasn’t sure about that. He’d spent years running the family ski resort with his grandfather and it hadn’t always been the easiest job in the world. That had been with Grandpa’s business acumen and local connections to guide him, as well as an MBA. He’d never been sure that leaving David, with his reckless streak and a barely passing high school diploma, in charge had been the best idea his grandpa had ever had. Then again, Grandpa had probably thought that Will would always be there to help him. 

Of course, Will had never seen himself leaving Boundary either. 

When Gennie didn’t leap to defend David that time, Will frowned, leaned forward in his seat. “Mom... how much trouble are we talking about?” 

The silence that followed spoke volumes. 

“I only found out last week... I don’t know all the details.” Which made sense. Gennie had never had much to do with the day to day running of the business and Will couldn’t imagine David being eager to fill her in. “But it’s bad, Will. We have loans coming due... and based on the projected figures, it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to repay them. We’re looking at laying people off...” She swallowed hard. “And we’re hosting the World Snowboarding Championships in March.” She let out a shuddering breath. “Or we’re supposed to be.” 

Will’s eyes grew wide. He hadn’t expected that. Pressing his lips together, he hardened his heart at what he was sure was coming. “What does that have to do with me?” 

Gennie shifted in her seat. “Will... we need you. You know how the business runs. You know the people, they know you. We need a steady hand to bring us back on track.”

“Inside of six months? Is it even possible?” 

Gennie shrugged, helpless. “I know why you left.” Her voice breaks on the words. “I know how hurt you were, how betrayed you felt...” Will looked away from her, at the bright lights twinkling below. “But you made Boundary what it is. Please... don’t let that go to waste.” 

Suddenly Will was on his feet. “That was almost three years ago, Mom. That was the last time I talked to you, or David. I have a life here. I can’t just uproot myself because you finally discovered your golden child has feet of clay.” 

Gennie stood, trembling. “I understand that, Will... just please... think about it?” 

Will turned away. “Goodbye, Mom.” 

*

“Mr Carver?” 

It didn’t sound like the first time that Rachel had said his name and when Will turned away from the window, the slight frown between her eyebrows confirmed his suspicion that it hadn’t been. A glance at the clock on his office wall told him that once again he’d been staring out the window for longer than he’d realised. “Come in, Rachel,” he said and she didn’t waste any time closing the door behind her and crossing the room towards him. The sight made Will’s lips twitch. “I was expecting you in here at least five minutes ago.” 

Rachel chuckled. “And they say I have no self control.” She dropped into the chair across from him, the one his mom had been sitting in not long before. “Well? What did she want?” 

There was a quip somewhere about her self control or the lack thereof. Will didn’t bother looking for it. Instead, he told her the truth. “The business is in trouble.” She didn’t look surprised. “Loans coming due, layoffs looming... and the World Snowboarding Championships are being held there in March.” 

Rachel tilted her head. “Pretend I know nothing about winter sports.” Will couldn’t help himself, he raised both eyebrows in silent question. Rachel grimaced. “A stretch, I know.” She waved her hand as if to bat away any further commentary. “Explain to me why that’s a big deal.” 

Will didn’t roll his eyes at the reminder of who he was talking to, but it was close. “Aside from being the biggest competition in the world? It’s mid Olympic cycle... two years since Torino, two years to Vancouver. For some, it’ll be their last big meet before they retire... no-one plans to continue to next year’s worlds, then stop a year before the Olympics. For younger snowboarders, it’s their chance to throw their name into the hat, get themselves noticed...” One particular young snowboarder’s face floated into his mind. “Shelley is one of the favourites... to be in contention for a medal... any medal... literally in your own backyard? You have no idea how rare that is.” 

He expected Rachel to nod, to say something pithy or at least ask another question. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, silently studying him. Then she shook her head. “No, that’s not it.” 

Will laughed, but it was a forced one. “Since when did you get so wise about winter sports?” 

Her blue eyes narrowed further. “Since when did we keep secrets?” 

Sighing, Will found himself looking down as memories from the past - long days, longer nights, eyes burning from tiredness and the blue screen glare of a computer monitor - made his voice catch in his throat. “The bid for the World Championships... that was the last thing Grandpa and I worked on together, before he was killed. I finished it, sent it off... he never knew we’d been awarded it.” The word had only come down after Will had left Boundary, he’d heard the news in a very excited email from Shelley. He’d got good and drunk that night. 

There was a soft exclamation from across the table and for a second, he thought she’d said, “Oh, Will.” Then the sounds made sense in his brain and he realised she’d said, “Oh, hell.” He heard her move and he looked up, expecting to see her coming around the table towards him. Which she was, but seeing her pull his laptop computer open, type in his password, was a bit of a surprise. 

“What are you doing?” 

She looked down at him, an expression on her face that he’d learned the hard way over the last three years was not to be argued with. “I’m looking at flights to Utah. I’ll check hotel availability after that. Not the Dowling St George, don’t worry; although I’d bet the look on your family’s face would be priceless... unless you think shacking up in your old room is an option, but I guessing it’s not...” 

Will blinked as her voice trailed off and he made sense of her stream of consciousness. “I’m not going to Boundary.” 

She gave him a look that was part exasperation, part pity. “Yes, you are.” She blinked then, her head swinging around to look out the window, her jaw dropping as she took in the bright blue sky, devoid of clouds. “And it’s coming in to winter there... I’m going to need winter clothes, aren’t I?”

“Rach...” 

She gave him another look. “Next you’ll be telling me that you want to walk into that serpents’ lair alone.” 

“I don’t want to walk into that serpents’ lair at all.” He closed his fingers around her wrist, loosely enough that she could break the grip if she wanted to, firm enough that he could feel her pulse, steady and strong against his skin. “We don’t have to go, Rach. We can stay right here.” 

Rachel sighed. “We can.” She shifted, turned so she was facing him, the computer forgotten. Her free hand moved to cup his cheek, her thumb sweeping up and down along his skin. “But you, Will Carver, are a good man. Stubborn, but loyal. Caring. And you’re not going to let everything you built up in Boundary... all that history, all of that hard work... fall apart just because of what David did to you.” She moved her other hand, breaking his grip on her wrist, but immediately taking his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together. “You and I both know it... so let’s save ourselves some time and some angst and sleepless nights and accept it, ok?” 

Will held her gaze, blue on blue, for a long moment. Then he nodded, accepting his fate. “Okay.”

*

“This is... different.” 

Rachel stood in the middle of Will’s old office in Boundary - still vacant, three years later - and slowly turned around, taking everything in. Will followed her gaze, trying to see it through her eyes. The large wooden table, the big leather chair, the wooden effect on the walls... there had been a time where he’d spent most of his life here and it didn’t look like it had changed at all. 

“Funny,” he said. “I was thinking it looked exactly the same.” 

Rachel spun to face him, gave him one of those looks. “Compared to your office at home, I mean.” 

Will nodded at her clarification. It was true; his office in Las Vegas was far more modern than this, all glass and chrome. That had been a conscious choice of his, trying to make his new space as different from his old as possible. As for her use of the word “home”... that made his stomach twist because if he’d been asked ten minutes ago, he would have called Vegas home in a second. Standing in the office at Boundary though, he felt a familiar tug at his heartstrings, a wave of nostalgia rushing through him. 

He was spared from further thoughts on the subject by the sound of footsteps coming down the corridor. “You’re here!” His mom made a beeline for him, pulling him into a warm hug that he found himself instinctively returning. When Gennie dropped her arms and stepped back from him, she opened her mouth to say something, stopped however when her eyes landed on Rachel. “Oh.” Surprise was plain in her voice. “I didn’t realise...” To her credit, she recovered quickly. “We’ve met, haven’t we? You were in Las Vegas.” 

“I’m Rachel.” She stepped forward, hand extended. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs Carver.” 

“Gennie, please.” His mom’s smile was a bit more forced now, a little more guarded when she looked back to Will. “I didn’t know you’d be bringing someone with you.” 

Will stood his ground. “Rachel’s been my right hand for the last three years.” It was a little more pointed than required maybe, but he wasn’t lying. “This’ll go a lot smoother with her here.” 

Gennie looked taken aback but she nodded, looking over her shoulder as two more voices, one male, one female, made themselves known. 

Will’s stomach twisted painfully as his heart began to pound. 

Then into the room walked his brother and, hand in hand with him, his ex-fiancée. 

“So.” David didn’t look pleased to see him. His lips were pressed into a thin line, his face paler and more gaunt than Will remembered. The last three years had aged him. “You’re back.” 

“For a while.” Will didn’t bother with any pleasantries, knowing them to be a lie. Instead he glanced at the woman by his side, the woman he’d been so sure he was going to spend the rest of his life with. “Maria.” 

“Hi, Will.” She sounded hesitant, reaching up with her left hand to push back a lock of hair, the way she did when she was nervous. A diamond glint on her finger caught the sunlight, and Will narrowed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable stab of pain that was sure to come. 

But nothing did. 

“Hi.” Maria was looking to his left. “I’m Maria.” 

“Rachel.” Rachel extended her hand and Maria dropped David’s hand, the two women taking a step towards each other and shaking hands. So close, Will was surprised to see how strongly they resembled one another - similar builds, though Rachel was a little shorter, both with long black hair falling halfway down their backs. Even the shape of their faces was similar, the main point of difference being their eyes - Maria’s were brown, Rachel’s a striking blue. Seeing them side by side made Will’s head swim and, from the grin suddenly adorning David’s face, Will wasn’t the only one who’d spotted the resemblance. 

“So.” David was much more cheerful all of a sudden. “Who might you be?” 

Rachel looked him up and down, lifted one eyebrow and replied, in her best, “I just told you this” voice, “Rachel.” Turning neatly on her heel, she looked at Will. “I’ll set the computer up over there?” 

Will didn’t even bother to hide his grin. “Sounds good to me.” He watched her move away, just for a second, then looked back to David. “We’re going to need to see the financial records for the last two years... as well as any paperwork for the World Championships. I assume you have them ready?” 

David actually looked taken aback and Maria stepped in. “The hard copies are all in David’s office if you want those. I have a thumb drive ready with all the data.” 

“We’ll take both.” Will turned back to his desk. “We won’t take up any more of your time, not just yet anyway.” 

Taking it for the dismissal it was, David and Maria left but Gennie stayed long enough to ask, “Will you be joining us for dinner tonight? I was going to make fajitas.” 

Will loved his mom’s fajitas. She’d made them for his birthday every year for as long as he could remember. “We’ll see, Mom,” he said and he tried not to see the disappointment in her eyes. “We have a lot of work to do.” 

“Okay.” Gennie smiled. “I’ll check back with you later.” 

Once she was gone, Will turned his attention to the desk, coming around to his old chair, sitting down in it and twisting experimentally. The chair felt just like he remembered it, and if he closed his eyes, he knew he’d almost be able to be five years back in the past, hearing Grandpa’s gruff voice, smelling the faint but lingering smell of cigarette smoke from his clothes. 

But Grandpa was gone and it was Rachel’s voice he heard beside him, low and amused as she tapped commands into the computer. “So, what I’m getting is... you have a type.” 

He looked up at her, saw her twitching lips and dancing eyes and found himself grinning. “Set up the computer,” he told her and she tossed off a jaunty salute. 

“Yes, Mr Carver.”

“And stop calling me that.” 

Rachel lifted an eyebrow but then David and Maria came back, arms full of files and whatever comeback she was planning vanished on her lips. By the time the files were laid out on the table in some kind of order and by the time they’d skimmed through some of the more recent ones, just to have an idea of what they were dealing with, it was lunchtime and Rachel suggested taking a walk around the resort and grabbing some food there. 

It was a good idea, even if Will looked at her quizzically. “You sure you don’t want me to grab you something and eat it here? It’s cold out there, Rach.” 

He was teasing, but only partially. She knew that too because she tilted her head and pursed her lips, obviously considering the offer. “True... but I guess I should get used to it, right? Build up my tolerance?” 

Will pushed himself to his feet, grabbing his jacket. “Building up your tolerance will be easier with hot chocolate.” The way her eyes brightened made him laugh - according to Rachel, there were very few problems that couldn’t be solved with chocolate. 

“Now you’re talking.” He waited for her to pull on her jacket, wrap a scarf around her neck, dig her gloves out of her pocket and put on her hat. Once she was all bundled up, he held out his hand to her and she took it with a grin. “Lead on.”

Walking around the resort, Will couldn’t help but notice the changes that had taken place over the last couple of years. Nothing too obvious, but it seemed quieter for this time of the year, not as many visitors as he would have expected. The park was showing signs of disrepair too, paint peeling, signs slightly off kilter, the staff just a little more subdued. At least until they realised who he was. Then there was a flurry of people coming up to him, with hellos and hugs and hand shaking, warm welcomes home all around. Compared to the awkward scene in his office, it was actually nice and when they reached the coffee shop and Rachel slid into a seat across from him, she crossed her arms and rested them on the table. “I feel like I’m walking around here with a celebrity,” she said and Will scratched the back of his neck, a little embarrassed. “Do you know everyone here?” 

Will shrugged. “Grandpa made it a point to know everyone who worked here. I always tried to do the same.”

“You do it in Vegas too.” 

“Habit. Although there’s a lot more turnover there, people passing through. Around here, it’s more likely to be townspeople... locals and lifers.” From where they were sitting, a raised location filled with picnic tables, they had a good view of the resort and, scanning the place, Will could recognise most of the people working there. “I went to high school with some of these people, I know their families, their stories...” His lips twisted and he glanced back to Rachel, having seen how many of those people were looking curiously at her. “And they all know mine.” 

Rachel quirked an eyebrow. “Is this your way of warning me not to give them something to talk about?” 

That question could have been answered in a dozen different ways from purely innocent to completely scandalous. Will didn’t get an opportunity to choose any option because just then a cry of his name split the air. The voice was familiar and he acted on instinct, standing and turning just in time to be greeted by an armful of his little sister. Shelley came running towards him, flinging her arms around his neck and holding on tightly and Will didn’t hesitate, wrapping both arms around her and lifting her off her feet. He held her as tight as she was holding him and it was both an age and not long enough when he put her down and she released him. 

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Much to his surprise, there were tears in her eyes. Shelley, world class athlete and otherwise ordinary nineteen year old teenager, was not given to crying in public. 

“Me too.” It was an equal surprise to realise it was true, to realise that he’d missed this place. Or to be more exact, how much he’d missed it. It had been easy to forget that, the hurt over how he’d left masking all other emotions. 

Shelley gave him another teary grin, bouncing a little on her feet before turning to Rachel. “Hi, Rachel,” she said, hugging her across the table before sliding in to sit beside Will. “When did you guys get here?” 

“Late last night. Too late to call.” He added the last because of her pout. “You were already on the slopes when we got here this morning. Besides, I wanted to get straight to work.” 

Shelley’s eyes darkened, brow knitting low in a frown. “Is it as bad as they’re saying?” Will exchanged a look with Rachel and Shelley caught it. “They’re not telling me much because they don’t want to worry me.” Her sarcasm was like a living thing. “Like I’m not worrying already.” 

Rachel’s shrug was almost imperceptible and Will decided to go with the better part of valour. “We haven’t got a chance to look too closely at anything yet, Shell,” he told her, a white lie but not much of one. There was plenty more to look at, to be sure, but what he’d seen so far hadn’t looked good. “It’ll probably be tomorrow before we know for sure.” 

Shelley nodded, pensive. “Well, if anyone can fix this, it’s you.” Her confidence in him made Will look down, hope like hell he was worth it. “Mom said you might be coming for dinner tonight?” When he looked back up at her, her eyes were beseeching. “Are you?” 

Will sighed. “Shell...”

“Please, Will?” For a second, she was his bratty little sister, aged seven to his twenty and begging him to take her up the mountain again just one more time. “I’ve really missed you.” 

He sighed again. “I’ve missed you too, Shell.” They’d always been close, certainly closer than her and David had been and, in later years, closer than he and David had been. After all, David had left the second he’d turned eighteen and while Will had gone to college and come back, David had remained stubbornly gone, save the odd flying visit. Thanks to the age difference, Will had been something of a surrogate father to Shelley, had enjoyed spending time with her, spoiling her. That had been why it had been so easy to keep in touch with her after leaving Boundary. 

“So, you’ll come to dinner?” 

Once more when he glanced at her, Rachel’s shrug was barely perceptible. This one, he knew, was all his decision. 

He never could say no to Shelley. “Fine. Dinner it is.” 

She squealed and hugged him and for a moment, he thought he might have made the right decision. 

Knocking on his mom’s front door a few hours later, after spending hours poring over numbers that made depressing reading, he was beginning to rethink things. Particularly when Maria answered the door. She looked awkward enough seeing him there, but when he stepped back to let Rachel through the door ahead of him, her eyes grew as wide as saucers. 

“Gennie didn’t say you were bringing company,” she said and Will bit back the first retort that sprang to mind. Also the second and the third. 

“Don’t worry about that, there’s plenty.” Gennie appeared as if from nowhere, hugging Will and smiling at Rachel. “Let me take your coats. Can I get you something to drink?” 

“I’m good, Mom. Rachel?” Rachel shook her head quickly and Gennie nodded. 

“Well then, come in. Make yourselves at home.” Stepping into the house - which hadn’t changed a bit - Will could see that everyone was here. “Shelley said she was talking to you earlier... have you met Sam, Rachel?” 

Will looked over at the couch where Shelley’s long time best friend turned boyfriend was sitting on the oversized couch, Shelley at his side. He grinned at the two of them, lifting two fingers in salute. “We’ve met,” he said. “Hey guys.” 

“Hey, Sam.” Will smiled before glancing pointedly at the younger man’s arm slung around Shelley’s shoulder. “Comfortable?” 

It was Shelley who answered, rolling her eyes. “Don’t start, Will.” She shifted in her seat, leaning forward so she could look past Will to see Rachel. “Can’t you tell him to behave?” 

Rachel affected a helpless stance. “I did try-”

Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by David, who appeared from the kitchen, beer bottle already in hand. “Will... here less than two minutes and already the fun police. Is that a new record?” 

Shelley looked between her two brothers, Sam looked uncomfortable and Rachel took a step closer to Will. Will, meanwhile, directed a pointed glance at the beer in David’s hand. “It just might be,” was all he said. 

“David...” Shelley’s tone was somewhere between pleading and warning. 

“Hey, I’m not saying anything.” David held up both hands. “I’m just thinking that it’s slightly ironic that my stick up his ass brother waltzes back into town, seemingly all concerned about how things look, when it’s very obvious that he’s the one banging his secretar- hey!” 

The last was said because Maria slapped his arm, an absolutely murderous look on her face. It was actually pretty similar to the look that Will was sure was on his own face. He clenched both fists, trying to remember why punching David’s lights out would be a bad idea. That was when Rachel laid a hand on his arm. “Funny,” she said, in a tone that was anything but. “I’m just thinking it’s ironic that Will should be taking advice on propriety from the brother who stole his fiancée.” 

David bristled under her gaze. “Maria and I-” he began, but Rachel didn’t let him finish. 

“Oh please.” Her tone would have frozen entire lakes. “The ‘it was my toy first’ defence? That stopped working in kindergarten.” 

Will felt his eyes go as wide as saucers and he looked down at Rachel, stunned, not having heard her talk like that ever in the three years he’d known her. David and Maria looked equally stunned, with Maria recovering first. “Come into the kitchen.” She practically dragged David off. “There’s something I need your help with...”

“And you come here with me...” Will pulled Rachel into the far corner of the room, away from prying ears. “Are you going to be ok?” he asked her, getting right to the heart of the matter. 

“I’m fine.” She bit the words out then, hearing her tone, looked down, biting her lip. 

“Because you don’t sound fine.” Looking over his shoulder, he realised his mom had followed Maria and David into the kitchen, leaving Sam and Shelley on the couch, staring at them. When they saw him looking over, they instantly averted their eyes so he felt safe enough in laying his hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “We can leave. Any time you like.” 

“No.” Rachel reached up, squeezed the bridge of her nose. “No, we’re staying. Just... hearing him speak to you like that... I just saw red.” 

He knew he shouldn’t but the memory of David’s face, how appalled he’d look, made Will laugh. “Rach, I gotta tell you, it feels good to know someone here has my back.” 

She smiled up at him, but then turned her head, looking in Shelley and Sam’s direction. “I don’t think I’m the only one,” she murmured. 

Before he could say anything else, his mom appeared back from the kitchen, declaring dinner ready, a grim looking Maria and a shame faced looking David following her out, laden with plates of food. 

For the rest of the night, everyone seemed to enter into an unspoken agreement that the whole thing hadnt happened at all, and surprisingly enough, the conversation flowed easily. It was a mixture of memories of times past (Shelley promised to show Rachel the legendary photo of Will in a bikini from the first annual Beach Party; Will promised her large sums of money to destroy it forever) and catching up over the last few years. Will wasn’t alone with Rachel until they got back to their hotel and even then, he didn’t broach the subject with her until they were safely ensconced in their room. 

“You sure you’re ok?” She paused in taking off her jewellery, looked over her shoulder at him. “You just seemed a little quiet on the drive back here.” 

She was silent for a moment, taking off her two earrings and dropping them on the dresser. “It’s interesting,” she said eventually. “Seeing you with your family. The dynamics, how you all interact.” 

Will toed off his shoes before coming up behind her. “I want it on the record,” he said, brushing her hair to one side, fingers easily finding the clasp of her necklace, “I was perfectly calm and well behaved all night.” 

She knew what he was teasing her about and she rolled her eyes right on cue. “Oh, hush.” 

“Nope, I don’t think I will.” He reached past her to drop the necklace beside her earrings and that was when he heard the softest sigh. “Okay, out with it. I know there’s something bothering you.” 

She sighed again at that and he turned her to face him, meeting no resistance. “I guess I’m just wondering how you really feel now that you’re back here... seeing everyone again.” 

She wouldn’t meet his gaze and that was what made him take a leap of faith. “Seeing everyone? Or seeing Maria?” 

Her eyes leapt to his then, her pupils flaring dark as her cheeks flared red. That was all the proof he needed that his hunch was correct. “You were going to marry her,” she said softly, fingers of one hand reaching up to play with the buttons of his shirt. 

“I was. Then.” He suddenly remembered another conversation much like this, held three years ago when David came back to Boundary after their grandfather’s death. The only difference was, then it had been Maria swearing to him that David’s return meant nothing to her, that she loved Will and only Will. It turned out that the shoe being on the other foot wasn’t any more to Will’s liking. “And I didn’t know how I was going to feel seeing her again. When I did, in the office this morning, I was waiting to feel... I don’t know. Angry? Hurt? Heartbroken? But I looked at her, Rach... and I didn’t feel anything.” 

He moved one hand from her shoulder to cup her cheek. “I look at her and I know I used to love her. I remember loving her. I remember being so angry at her and David. But it’s like... it’s like looking at a picture of a picture. I remember feeling it... but I don’t feel it any more.” He leaned in, let his forehead rest against hers. 

“Will...”

She breathed his name and it was enough to send shivers up his spine. “But when I look at you, Rach... I feel.” His other hand slid up her neck so that he was cupping her face, his eyes locked with hers. “I feel,” he whispered again before he closed the distance between them and brought his lips to hers. 

*

A week after they’d arrived in Boundary, Will was ready to admit defeat. No matter what he thought of, no matter what scenarios he ran, he couldn’t come up with one that would make the Mountain viable, not with the current debt to capital ratio. And when David appeared at his office door, ashen faced and told him that there was a meeting at the bank tomorrow, and that they’d been told Colin Dowling would be there, he knew what the outcome was going to be. 

He worked late that night, looking for a miracle and when there was a knock on the door frame, he looked up expecting to see Rachel there - who else would be trying to pull him out of there? 

“Patrick! Everything ok?” Seeing a lift operator in the doorway didn’t often augur well. Usually it meant a lift was broken somewhere, and that could be very expensive both in maintenance and lost revenues. But Patrick didn’t look worried. In fact he was... smiling?

“Hey, Will. I know you’re swamped, but you’re needed out here.” 

Frowning, Will grabbed his jacket and followed him out, almost running to keep up with him. The resort was deserted as they made their way across the snow and Will wished he’d glanced at his watch before he’d left the office, realising that he’d lost track of time. Again. He couldn’t figure out where Patrick was bringing him until the other man stopped beside the ski lift. 

“Patrick, what are we doing here?” Will frowned at the lift, its lights blazing a path up the mountain, its familiar whirring noise. At this hour of the night, with the park deserted, it should have been shut down entirely, and Patrick should have been at home. Or at the very least, not here. But instead, he was heading towards the operator station, walking backwards with a grin on his face. 

“All I know is, I’ve got to get you on this chair lift and get you up the mountain.” Patrick’s grin widened, his eyes fairly dancing with mirth. “That’s all I was told.” 

Will narrowed his eyes, glancing up at the mountain top like he could actually see what was waiting for him up there. Or, more particularly, who. That, at least, wasn’t too hard to guess. “Rachel.” 

Patrick didn’t bother to officially confirm or deny his suspicion, but his chuckle was answer enough. As was his, “She doesn’t like to take no for an answer, does she?” 

It was Will’s turn to chuckle at that. Rarely had a truer word been spoken - evidently, Rachel had been making friends among the staff here. “No,” he allowed. “She does not.” 

Accepting his fate, he climbed into the nearest chair, buckled himself in and waited for Patrick to work his magic. As the chair lift began to move, the cold night air hit him full in the face and he sucked in a deep breath, closing his eyes. This was the first time he’d been up the mountain since his return home and, as the wind rushed by him, ruffling his hair and chilling his skin, he remembered all the times he’d done this over the years, Mom or Grandpa at his side. He could almost hear his mom’s voice, giving him tips about skiing and safety, hear his grandfather telling him all manner of stories that Mom likely wouldn’t approve of. He kept his eyes closed, let the memories wash over him in a way he didn’t usually indulge and when the lift juddered to a stop, when his feet touched the ground again, there came with it a certain sense of disorientation. 

Things shifted into focus a little more when Rachel appeared in front of him, all bundled up, scarf up around her chin, hat pulled down low across her forehead. “Nice of you to join me,” was her greeting and he could feel the chill of her gloved hand even through his own gloves. 

“Now, what’s a hothouse flower like you doing on top of a Utah mountain in the middle of winter?” He replied in the same teasing tone she’d used, sliding his arms around her waist for good measure. She tilted her head back to look up at him but there was an invitation there too, one he took gladly. 

Rachel smiled into the kiss, pulling away first which was a bit of surprise. Usually she was the one pulling him closer. “I’ve heard so much about how romantic the mountain is at night,” she said, snuggling up against him, her head resting in its accustomed place on his chest as he laid his cheek on top of it. “I thought I’d see for myself.” 

She turned her head to look out as she spoke and Will found himself following suit, taking in the scene he’d seen so many times with new eyes. The white blanket of snow stretched as far as the eye could see before fading into blackness, a blackness broken up by the lights of the resort and, further still, the town. Above them, the stars twinkled brightly, so close that Will felt he could almost reach out and touch them. But they were nothing to the stars that danced in Rachel’s eyes as she turned her head and looked back at him. “It’s beautiful,” she said and he felt a smile coming to his lips as he touched her cheek. 

“Yes. It is.” He wasn’t talking about the stars though, and he was fairly sure she knew that. 

Which she did, if the way she rolled her eyes was any indication. But she was smiling too, which Will took to be a good thing. “Don’t distract me,” she ordered and he raised both eyebrows in mock shock. 

“Me, distract you? Would I ever?” That was usually her job, pulling him out of his work and his figures and his occasionally workaholic tendencies. 

He expected her to roll her eyes again, tease him right back. Instead she was serious. “I can see why you love it here.” 

And with those few words, Will felt a surge of emotion rise in his chest, the same emotion that had swept over him with the wind in the chair lift. The kind of emotion that came with a lifetime worth of memories too long repressed. Tears that couldn’t be blamed simply on the wind stung his eyes and it was suddenly hard to speak past the lump in his throat. “I do love it here,” he agreed. “I spent years building this place, me and Grandpa, building up the business... I never would have left if I had a choice.” Too late he realised how that sounded. “I don’t mean...”

“I know.” The words were accompanied by a squeeze around his middle but that wasn’t enough for Will. He needed to say the words, needed her to hear them. 

“Meeting you... loving you... Rach, that’s something I’ll never regret. But this place... this big lump of rock...” He shook his head. “It’s my home. It’s my heart, just as much as you are. And I have missed it. Every day for the last three years.” 

Rachel drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly. “I know,” she said again. “I’ve always known. And if I hadn’t, the last few days, seeing you with these people, seeing your face... Will, this is where you belong.” 

Will shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. You’ve seen the books. You’ve seen the plans. The mountain is out of capital, we can’t get any more loans, we can’t repay the ones we have...” For the first time that day, he gave voice to the terrible truth he’d realised the moment David came into his office. “Colin Dowling is going to go to that bank meeting tomorrow and buy our loans out from under us and once he does that, he’s won. He’ll be able to do whatever he likes with this place.” His mom’s warnings from years ago about bulldozing the land and building condos danced through his memory and he fought the urge to throw up with everything he had. 

He was so busy fighting it that he almost missed Rachel’s next words. “Not necessarily. Not if someone else invests.” 

It took a moment for the words to register and when they did, he shook his head. “No.” 

Rachel nodded. “Yes.” 

Just like when he’d stepped off the chair lift, Will’s head started to spin. “I can’t ask-”

“You’re not.” Rachel interrupted him with a laugh. “Will, you said it yourself... you and your grandpa spent years building this place. You knew it backwards and forwards, you can run things in your sleep. You can get it back on track, I know you can.” She stepped back, took both his hands in hers and squeezed. “We can.” 

The last two words took a weight off his shoulders he hadn’t even realised was there. But still, he needed to be sure. “Rach, you’re a Nevada hothouse flower. How are you going to survive in Utah?” 

Rachel shrugged, her eyes glittering with determination and Patrick’s voice rang in his ears. “She doesn’t like to take no for an answer, does she?” 

“I’ll be fine,” she told him. “As long as you promise to keep me warm.” 

He laughed at that; he couldn’t not. 

But when she leaned in and kissed him, it wasn’t a laughing matter any more. 

*

“You’re late.” 

Those were the first words Will heard when they walked into the meeting room the next day, uttered by David in a tone that matched the thin press of his lips, the narrow glare of his eyes. They were also words that made Will want to laugh at the irony because how many times, back in the day, had he himself levelled them at David? A few days ago, Will would have felt his hackles rise, would have snapped some scathing retort at his brother, but today he just smiled. “Sorry,” was all he said and it was easier to say than he might have believed. After all he did feel sorry for David - he thought he was about to watch the family business be taken over by their mortal enemy, and it had happened all on his watch. That couldn’t be easy to handle. 

Also, the look of naked surprise on David’s face at his non-reaction? That was pretty sweet. 

Two seats were left free at the end of the table nearest the door. Will pulled out one for Rachel then sat down beside her. To his right was Shelley, her face pale and her eyes red, like she’d been crying. Their mom was to Shelley’s right, her face drawn. David was beside her, with Maria beside him, and across the table, the Dowling family, Colin, Michael and Max were all sitting, the two children sitting uncomfortably in their seats, looking as if they’d rather be anywhere else. 

“Well, now that we’re all here...” Colin Dowling stood up, actually rubbing his hands together. It was probably supposed to look like he was taking charge; Will knew it was more an expression of glee. “Let’s get started. Mr Harmon, I believe you’ll do the honours?” 

Dan Harmon, still manager of the Boundary bank, stood up from his seat at the head of the table, looking positively chipper. “Well, Mr Dowling, I’m terribly sorry for the short notice but it seems circumstances have changed quite a bit since this morning.” He didn’t sound sorry, didn’t look it either and he looked even less so when Colin turned a glare on him. Will rubbed a hand over his lips, hiding his smile - once he and Rachel had paid a visit to the bank this morning, there had been no need to actually have this meeting. The Dowlings and the Carvers could easily have been notified by phone or email. But Mr Harmon had been surprisingly eager to ambush Colin Dowling and his family live and in person. Will had never realised the mild mannered bank manager had such a flair for the dramatic. 

“Changed?” Colin ground the word out. “Changed how?” 

“Well, it transpires that the Carvers’ loans have been repaid. In full.” That bombshell dropped, Mr Harmon looked around the table, pausing before adding, “And a significant cash deposit has been made to the account also.” 

All the Carvers looked at each other, all shaking heads and furrowed brows. “How significant?” It was David who asked the question and his jaw dropped at the answer. 

“I can’t disclose the exact amount with non account holders in the room.” Mr Harmon was definitely enjoying this. “But I can say that it was a healthy seven figures.” 

“Seven-” Will’s mom choked on the words. “Who would do that?” 

A deafening silence filled the room. 

“That would be me.” 

Will held up a hand as all heads turned towards him. 

“You?” David spluttered. 

Across from him, Colin was completely calm, his voice when he spoke almost dangerously so. “Where did you get that much money, son?” The last word, Will knew, was deliberately chosen to make him bristle. Not today. “Because there’s no way you came up with that much cash from an investor without selling them some of your share. Which, as we all know, is not allowed within the terms of the life trust. So unless there’s a rich Carver out there somewhere that we don’t know about...” He spread his hands in a gesture that was meant to indicate helplessness. 

Will was too busy grinning at the set up to care about the hypocrisy. “Do you know who Calvin Hughes is?” The apparent non sequitur took Colin, and everyone else, by surprise. “Real estate mogul, hotel magnate, richer than God... he even makes you look like a pauper, isn’t that right, Colin?”

Colin pursed his lips together in disgust and Will paused to enjoy the sight. Which gave Rachel the chance to speak. “He’s also my father,” she said and Colin’s glare whipped to her so fiercely that Will shifted in his chair, all ready to defend her. Of course, Rachel didn’t need defending. She didn’t even blink. “Which means I have a very robust trust fund. It matured last summer.” 

Will shrugged, affecting a nonchalant attitude as he prepared to lob his final, biggest, grenade. “And since Nevada is a community property state, what’s hers? Is mine.” 

“Community property?” Maria was the one to break the stunned silence in the room. “But that would mean...” Her voice trailed off, like she couldn’t believe what she was about to say, didn’t want to admit it out loud. 

Will fixed his eyes on David. “That I’m not banging my secretary,” he said pointedly. David at least had the grace to look embarrassed. “She’s not my secretary, she’s my partner. Her MBA happens to be better than mine and she’s the smartest person in this room by quite a way. And she’s my wife.” 

“Which is all very nice.” Colin waved his hand dismissively, his tone conveying the exact opposite. “But obviously a marriage of convenience, designed to circumvent the conditions of the trust. No judge would uphold it...”

“It’d have to be very convenient,” Will interrupted, “since we got married nearly eleven months ago, when I had no idea how bad things were at Boundary.” 

“He’s telling the truth.” All heads turned to Shelley, who was gripping the armrests of her chair, her eyes bright, a smile on her lips. 

“Shelley, you knew about this?” Gennie’s voice was soft, almost appalled. 

Shelley shrugged. “Sam and I were witnesses,” she said and Will could see how that landed on his mom, David and Maria. They all looked ill. “We went to visit them one weekend...” It had been during the college term and Will had paid for their flights out. He’d assumed that his mom didn’t know and as for Sam’s dad, well, that had always been an up in the air relationship. “Will asked us not to tell anyone. So we didn’t.” 

“At the time,” Will told them, “I had no intentions of ever coming back to Boundary. But.” He shrugged. “Things change.” His gaze swept across the Carver side of the table, then swung across to the Dowling side. “Boundary Mountain belongs to the Carvers, Colin. And it’s going to stay that way.” He stood up, looked pointedly down at Rachel. The smile on her face could have powered the town for a month. Maybe two. “And now... we’ve got work to do.” 

He held out his hand and while he wouldn’t have said it was possible for her smile to get bigger, that was just what happened. 

“Let’s go,” she said and, hand in hand, they walked out of the room together. 

*

Four months later, they stood once again hand in hand, this time just behind the finish line at the Snowboarding World Championships. Rachel was once again so bundled up that the only piece of skin exposed to the elements was her face. But she was still smiling and the pink on her cheeks had less to do with the cold than the way she was bouncing up and down, screaming encouragement at Shelley as she competed for the gold medal. 

“I thought you didn’t understand winter sports,” he murmured into her ear as they waited for the judges’ marks to come up. He was teasing and, for his troubles, received a none too gentle swat to his chest. She looked like she was about to say something to him too, but then his sister’s scores were announced and they were good enough to crown her champion so everyone got a little bit distracted by that. 

Much later, in the middle of a frankly raucous celebration party at the Carver ranch, he pulled her away from everyone else, into a secluded corner of the room, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her close. “I hear there are rumours you’re thinking of becoming a snowboarding judge,” he quipped. “Care to comment?”

She actually snorted. “Well, I couldn’t be much worse than some of them.” 

Will pursed his lips, considering. “That is true. And slightly scary, considering six months ago, you didn’t know a half pipe from a hornpipe.” 

She shrugged one shoulder. “I’m a fast learner. Besides, it’s easy to learn when you’ve been eating, sleeping and breathing snowboarding.” 

That was also true. Channeling money into the business had been the easy part of their job. Renovating the resort at the same time as organising this event, straightening out the mistakes that had been made, had required twenty hour days and plenty of them. More than once, they’d literally slept at the office; more than once Will had doubted they’d be able to pull it off. 

She never had. 

“You know,” he told her, one hand running up and down her back, “this wouldn’t have been possible without you.” Rachel rolled her eyes, shook her head. Opening her mouth, Will knew she was all ready to come up with a million reasons why it all would have been fine. He interrupted her before she could start. “You were wrong about me. That day in my office, when my mom came to see me? You told me I’d help because I’m a good man.” 

Rachel looked around them pointedly, lifted an eyebrow as she looked back at him. “Am I missing something?” 

It was Will’s turn to shake his head. “I’m not a good man, Rachel. I’m stubborn... I’ve got a quick temper... I don’t talk about my feelings, and I have a tendancy to act out...” 

There was a wry smile on Rachel’s face. “Trust me,” she drawled, “I remember the work it took to get past your handsome yet gruff exterior... the girls thought I was nuts, you know that?” 

Remembering how he’d behaved when he’d first arrived in town, broken hearted and betrayed, he couldn’t blame them. Put it this way, if he’d known Shelley was setting her sights on someone like the man he’d been then, he’d be steering her in a different direction. Probably a convent. But Rachel had seen past all that and once she had, she hadn’t taken no for an answer. 

“My point is...” Taking one of her hands in his, he squeezed their joined hands, brought them over his heart. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have come back here. I’d have let it fall apart out of some grudge that I hadn’t let go of. Dowling would have the mountain... I still wouldn’t have talked to my mom... I wouldn’t have been here today to see my baby sister become a World Champion...” 

Rachel shook her head. “You don’t know that...”

“Oh, I do. You don’t believe me, because you’ve always seen the best in me... even if I don’t deserve it.” Rachel pressed her lips together and he saw her jaw clench, saw her neck muscles work as she swallowed furiously. Ignoring the tell tale sheen along her lower lashes, he continued, “I’m not a good man, Rach... but with you? I’m a better one.” 

A tiny sob ripped itself from her throat and she hid it by burying her head in his chest. He felt her take a deep breath, then another and when she tilted her head back to look up at him, her eyes were dry, albeit bright red. “Who knew you were such a romantic?” she asked and he just grinned, moving one hand down her back. Maybe a little lower than was strictly proper in public but then he’d just told her he wasn’t a good man. Besides, she didn’t seem to be complaining. 

“You bring out the best in me, Rach,” he told her, brushing a kiss across her forehead. “You always have.” 

“Always will.” She smiled up at him. “I promise.” 

“And I promise,” he continued, “to always keep you warm.” She giggled at that, rested her head against his shoulder and he dipped his head to murmur in her ear, “You, and anyone else who comes along.” The hand that was on her back moved around to her hip, then ghosted gently along her stomach. She looked up at that, an expression on her face that suggested she wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed with him or melt into his arms. He spared her having to make the decision, returning his hand to her hip, knowing it was too early to tell people, knowing that they couldn’t upstage Shelley at her own party. “I know, I know... I shouldn’t.” 

“No.” Rachel’s smile was back on her lips. “But I love it when you do.” 

He kissed her then, because he couldn’t not, closed his eyes and let the rest of the party go on without them for a little while, knowing that for the first time in years, he was truly home.

**Author's Note:**

> I blame this story solely on Anson Mount being wonderful in Star Trek Discovery and me going back to some of his earlier work and hence writing for the Be The First challenge. 
> 
> The Mountain was famously called on TWOP “the worst show we ever reviewed” - while I wouldn’t go that far, I will say that the writing could have been improved an awful lot and that some of the plotting needed fine tuning. And I hated hated hated the way the Will/Maria/David storyline played out. I have literally spent 14 years wanting someone to write a happy ending for Will and finally just did it myself! I have never sailed so close to deadline posting a fic (I finished this literally 12 hours before deadline) and I could probably tinker for ages yet with it but how and ever!


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